Frailty and the Risk of Delirium: A Mendelian Randomization Study.

Abstract

Observational studies have explored associations between frailty and delirium, but conclusions have been controversial. We aimed to identify the potential causality effect between these 2 traits using Mendelian randomization (MR). The genetics instrument related with frailty index (FI) was taken from a summary-level genome-wide association study (GWAS), and the GWAS of delirium was obtained from the FinnGen Study. The inverse variance weighted method (IVW) was performed. MR analysis found a causal association between genetically predicted FI and an elevated risk of delirium in IVW (odds ratio [OR]: 2.85; 95% CI: 1.03-7.90; P= .04). This study encouraged early identification of the baseline frailty in intensive care units. Critical care nurses are advised to use multidimensional tools to identify frailty. Then, individualized care plans should be made according to frailty degrees, like nutrition and pre-rehabilitation for pre-frail patients. Nurses can optimize medical resources and apply cluster interventions for delirium high-risk groups.